


Six

by CosmicBrownie



Series: The Hargreeves Kids (Pre-Season One Fics) [5]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Based on songs-ish, Crushes, Eventual Smut, Five has nightmares, Five made it back after time travelling, Fluff, M/M, NSFW, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy has PTSD, Oral Sex, PTSD, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Pre-Canon, Repressed Feelings, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Spooning, Teenagers, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Wet Dream, a lot more angst than planned or expected actually, age 15-18, mastrubation, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:29:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25929667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicBrownie/pseuds/CosmicBrownie
Summary: “It’s not like it’s my fault that that crazy scientist chose my room to break into the academy and detonated all of my things, and now I’m sharing a room and maybe even a bed with my brother for the next few weeks.”OR Luther and Five have to share a room. A lot happens.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Luther Hargreeves
Series: The Hargreeves Kids (Pre-Season One Fics) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1892047
Comments: 12
Kudos: 83





	1. so i stay the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well if you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly in a wonderful mood about any of this, Luther. So maybe try to have a little sympathy here. It’s not like it’s my fault that that crazy scientist chose my room as a point of entry for breaking into the academy and detonated all of my things, and now I’m sharing a room with my brother for the next few weeks, and possibly even a bed. I’m not exactly thrilled either.” Five said, clearly annoyed at his brother, lying tired on the bed.

“Why do you have so many books?” Luther grunted, almost collapsing as he set down a large box filled to the brim with novels and textbooks onto his bed. He fell down next to it, happy to make contact with his bedsheets, his arms about to give out despite his super strength and endurance.

Five turned from where he was unpacking and neatly organising a pile of folded uniform clothes and pyjamas. Around him, a myriad of boxes and assorted items of his scattered about Luther’s large room. His things stood out in their new environment, like an orange in a bowl of apples. Like something that didn’t belong.

He scoffed, looking at his brother pitifully. “Are you serious? It’s only two little boxes. The rest got fried. This isn’t even my entire Greek collection, which got destroyed, by the way.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, for the record,” Luther grumbled into his blanket. He turned over, exhausted.

The two had spent the whole day moving Five’s things from his room down the hall to Luther’s, where it all accumulated into the mess of moving. A couple days before, the wall of Five’s room had been busted through by one of their enemies, a mad scientist who was on the run and wanted to seek revenge on the academy right in their home. The explosion caused most of his room and things to be damaged, along with a lot of his things, so arrangements were made for Five to move into Luther’s room for a few weeks. And while Five could grab boxes and blink away, Luther was left constrained to the usual physical restraints of time and space.

Luther exhaled through his nose, relaxing. “I understand that I’m the leader, and I’m your kind, helpful, caring older brother who’s willing to let you move in with me for the time being and not complain with the arrangements and welcome you with open arms into my living space.” he said, staring up at his ceiling which was decorated with glow stars and patterns of constellations and planets. “But god, why do I have to be the one to move you in?”

Five perched next to him on the bed, sighing. “Don’t complain. You should feel lucky the old man gave us the day off. Would you rather be in training with the others right now?”

Luther barely hesitated before saying “Yes.”

Five cocked an eyebrow, both surprised and equally bemused. “Well, that makes one of us,” he said as he rose to his feet and grabbed the box of books. “This the last one?”

“Yup. At least, I think so. I didn’t see any others.” Luther responded.

Five looked at him for a moment, then took a step forward, blinking away. After a few minutes, he returned with a couple random items, slightly charred looking and distressed.

Luther sat up on his bed, resting back on his pillows like they were clouds. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

Five looked at him, confused and still.

“For letting you move in,” Luther continued, smiling slightly.

Five let out a single laugh. “Oh, please. You didn’t ‘let me’ do anything. The old man made you, whether you’re like it or not. You just have the biggest room, and the most responsibility. You don’t get any credit.”

Luther opened his mouth to speak, but took a few seconds to gather himself. “Hey,” he replied finally, slightly offended. “At least I’m not whining and complaining.”

Five turned back to where he was unpacking his books and stacking them in neat, sturdy piles. “Are you certain about that? You just spent the last couple hours complaining about carrying a couple dozen boxes when you have super strength, all 'cause you want to be doing bicep curls with Klaus right now.”

Luther crosses his arms. “It wouldn’t kill you to at least be grateful, Five.”

“Well if you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly in a wonderful mood about any of this, Luther. So maybe try to have a little sympathy here. It’s not like it’s my fault that that crazy scientist chose my room as a point of entry for breaking into the academy and detonated all of my things. And now I’m sharing a room with my brother for the next few weeks, and possibly even a bed. I’m not exactly thrilled at the moment.” Five said, clearly annoyed.

Luther was about to argue back, but retreated. He thought for a moment, looking at the way Five tensed from behind, and calmed down.

“You’re right. This must be stressful for you. But it’s stressful for me too, Five. So let’s just try to get along and make the best of this, alright?” Luther said, slow and carefully. There was no sense in arguing. There was nothing to argue about. He watched Five pause, relieved as his brothers shoulders relaxed.

He nodded. “Okay, Space.”

-

“Okay, if we’re going to live with each other, we’re going to have to set some boundaries.” Luther began that night as he entered his room to see that Five was scribbling something on the wall.

Five didn’t acknowledge him, continuing to write at rapid speeds on the wall beside Luther’s bed. When he didn’t stop for even a second, Luther continued.

“Look, I get you weird math thing, with the time jumping and equations and everything. But you can’t write on my walls, Five. Use a notebook.” Luther said with a sigh, plopping down on the bed. He didn't have the energy to be angry about it rather than mildly, quietly annoyed. He'd had a long day.

“Can’t," replied the boy, still scribbling. Multitasking. "Notebooks destroyed.” Five didn’t remove his gaze from the wall as he spoke, but finally slowing his wrist to a stop. He looked up and down the wall, squinting slightly as he examined the text. Thinking. Multitasking.

“There’s got to be some alternative. Can’t you just wait until you can get your hands on something else?” he asked, taking off his blazer and discarding it on the floor without an effort to toss it into the laundry hamper.

Five shook his head a little. “I’ve been working on these equations for months, trying to figure this out. I’ve got to copy everything in my brain before I forget it.”

“Trying to figure what out, Five?” Luther asked, now slightly interested as he loosened his tie.

Five looked at him, the first time since he had come in, and then back at his equations, not responding.

“Hey. Five?” Luther asked, still eager for an answer.

“Time travel.”

“Oh.”

Five circled something on the wall with his chalk. “I’m getting out of here on day,” he muttered under his breath.

“What do you mean?” Luther loosened his tie, trying to seem like the question was only casual, but his worry was apparent.

“I’m going to prove that the old man is wrong. One of these days, I’m gonna take a trip through time. I’ll go to the sixties, the eighties, to the twenties, maybe even the eighteen-hundreds. Fuck, I’ll go to the future. But one of these days, watch, I’m gonna get out of here. I’ll spend a lifetime in history, abandon this place, and I’ll prove him wrong. I’ll show him that I’m ready. That I’ve been ready, and that he underestimated me big-time.” Five ranted, looking angry and sure, his wide blue eyes lighting up with his usual glint of madness and fire and jaw clenching the way he did when he was worked up. He meant every word.

Luther paused for a while after that, unsure of what to say.

“Well...can it at least wait till tomorrow? Come on, I think it’s time you get ready for bed. It’s late,” Luther said, tilting his head and smiling, warmly.

Five glanced at him, then continued scribbling on the wall.

With a sigh, Luther gave up. He stripped himself of his sweater and shirt, too exhausted to continue trying. He shoved his pants down and stepped out of them, pulling out from his drawer his pyjamas. As he pulled them up his legs, he heard Five had stopped writing. Turning, he caught for a brief moment him staring.

Five whipped back around, returning to the wall.

Weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, cause I always like posting two right away. Chapter titles are lyrics from the artist Daughter, which I'm playing in the background as I write.


	2. 'cause he has horrible dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Was...was Five having a nightmare? Luther turned over in his bed. There he saw Five, who had rolled over in his sleep and was laying flat against the ground, eyes closed but expression evidencing pain and discomfort. He had kicked off the blanket in his unrest, breathing going rapid. His lips were quivering as he spoke in a breathy whisper "No...no. Not again. No. Please."

“You really don’t have to sleep on the floor, you know,” Luther said from his bed. “It’s fine by me if we switch places.”

“For the millionth time, Luther. I’m not taking your bed, too. I’m just fine down here,” Five argued back from the floor, lying beneath a blanket that wasn’t his on a pillow that also didn’t belong to him. His bed had been destroyed in the incident, along with his bedding.

Luther sighed, still not subdued. “Well...” he began, thinking. “We could always share?”

Five turned slightly from the ground, not enough for Luther to see the look on his face, but he took the silence alone as a hard rejection. Five turned back over, pulling the blanket higher. “I’d rather gouge out my own eyeballs with a rusty spork.”

“Okay, fine. Be that way. Just trying to be nice,” Luther replied, offended. Somewhere in his heart, that little remark hurt more than it should have. Five was always venomous. He shouldn't take it to heart, he thought. He turned in bed away from his brother, less upset that he was spending the night on the ground now.

Behind him, Five quietly replied, barely loud enough to hear. “I know, I’m sorry.”

Luther smiled a little. “I get it. 'S fine."

Calm, easy silence began to develop in the atmosphere, the moonlight pouring through the window making the dark less unsettling. As the quiet grew quieter, and the darkness darker, their breaths became the only thing that filled their room, long and relaxed and quiet in the stillness. The aware silence faded into a comfortable quiet. Luther shut his eyes, trying for the next several minutes to sleep, to no avail. Eventually, he opened his eyes again.

“Five?” Luther squeaked quietly from the bed, not moving. “Is it alright if I turn on some music on my record player? Sometimes I use it to sleep. If you're not cool with that it's fine, of course. Just wanted to see.”

Five didn’t reply, which prompted Luther to turn over in bed, to see Five laying still. His breaths were heavy, almost a snore, making his lithe frame rise and fall gracefully. He gave no sign of being awake. Now the silence wasn't hanging with anticipation, but rather awareness of Five's subtle sounds as he slept.

“Five?” Luther tried again, just to be sure, but Five didn’t move besides his breathing.

Carefully, Luther crept out of bed, making sure to enforce his best sneaking skills as he made his way over to his stack of records in the rack by his desk. He flipped through them quietly before retrieving his favourite-Tiffany. It wasn't the best for sleep, but he loved her records.

He spared a glance back at Five, still sleeping on the ground. In the dim moonlight, he could make out his pretty, sleeping face, serene and at ease in his slumber. Normally, his piercing eyes made Luther stand straight up, and focus, but here, his long, dark eyelashes covered them, closed, and he looked so peaceful. 

The little maniac actually looked really cute when he slept.

Luther sighed, putting his record back. He didn’t want to risk waking his adorable brother with his music, and besides, Luther needed to learn how to sleep without noise or light or distractions. He had to learn how to sit with his thoughts until he managed to relax enough to sleep. Five had certainly got the hang of it, so he had to too. His father would teach him ways to relax-ways to calm down and get some shut eye. They never really worked, but he could try again tonight.

Back in his bed, Luther looked back at Five again. Still sleeping peacefully, Luther began to focus on his steady breaths to ease him off to bed. The subtle, sweet noise served as a sort of repetitive, rocking motion, but in Luther’s ears. Luther felt his eyelids droop until he was closing his eyes again.

Sometime after that, the world grew more dark and quiet, and he drifted off to sleep.

-

Then he woke again with a start.

Shaken out of his dream, Luther was greeted as he woke by the ceiling of his bedroom, glow stars plastered there now dim. The room was still dark, but now he was quickly wide-awake. He turned to his right to his night stand, where he would have normally seen his alarm clock. Instead, he was greeted by a stack of books. _Five's_. He sat up slightly, pushing them out of the way to see that the time on the clock read 2:00 am. Luther was about to lay back and close his eyes and try to sleep again, when he heard a sniff.

It didn’t startled him at first, but then he heard a whimper, and some quiet mumbles follow. He recognised quickly that Five was talking, and stopped for a second to listen.

“Luther...” he made out, and he almost asked “Yes?” in return before Five continued. “Vanya....Ben!” he shouted in his sleep, growing louder.

 _Was...was Five having a nightmare?_ Luther turned over in his bed. There he saw Five, who had rolled over in his sleep and was laying flat against the ground, eyes closed but expression evidencing pain and discomfort. He had kicked off the blanket in his unrest, breathing going rapid. His lips were quivering as he spoke in a breathy whisper "No...no. Not again. _No_. Please."

Luther sat up, watching him, unsure of what to do. He turned on the lamp, but it didn't wake the boy.

Five let out a punched out, frustrated groan. He looked defeated, or helpless, or desperate. Luther knelt beside him, just as he yelled his name again. "Luther!" he cried.

Gently, Luther placed a hand to Five's shoulder, who jolted awake at the contact. He looked up at Luther, wide-eyed, upset and still panting from the dream, and took a moment to register. When he did, he shook his head and scooted away a little, surprised. "L-L-Luther?" he sputtered, eyebrows creasing. He grabbed his hand, shoving it off of him with a gasp. "Wh-what?"

"Five, it's okay. It's just me. Are you okay?" Luther asked, concerned, his deep eyes staring straight into Five's wide, ones. His fearful face looked so foreign.

The small boy scooted away further, replying quickly, "Yes, I'm f-fine. What-Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were shouting in your sleep, and you looked upset. You called my name. Was it a nightmare?" he asked, growing quieter and softer still as he watched his panicked brother fully shake himself out of his sleep. Five closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. More calm and composed, Five spoke, less shakily than before, "I'm fine, One. I'm not a damsel in need of your rescuing."

Luther was quiet, but still worried. "I'm sorry I startled you," he apologized, feeling exceptionally guilty for something or other.

Five looked up at Luther, their gaze interlocking again. His wide, ocean eyes aglow in the moonlight told Luther that he was still reeling from whatever was troubling him in his sleep, and they searched for help that Five's guarded demeanor would have otherwise never alluded to. Luther leaned forward, placing a steady hand to Five's leg. He studied him silently a moment longer, certain that there was a warm shade of pink creeping over Five's cheeks. The air around them thickened.

"It's okay, Five," Luther said, like a promise. "Do...do you want to talk about it?"

Clearly, that question made Five quite upset, because he suddenly shouted "Leave me alone!" and warped away, leaving Luther in the stillness and the dark.

Luther stayed up for another hour, unable to sleep, but Five didn't return.

-

The next morning, Luther awoke alone, cursing himself. That should have been normal for him, of course, considering it was his room. But all night, Luther worried about Five, and fell asleep uneasy and unwilling to drift off until he knew he was alright. He still did, falling back asleep eventually, but he wasn't happy about it as he stirred, Five the first thing on his mind as he did. Sadly, he realized that he was alone in his room, Five's blanket unmoved from where he had left them the night before, evidencing the fact that he had been alone the whole night too. He grit his teeth, upset.

He wasted no time dressing and getting ready that morning, hoping to see Five at breakfast. He looked to the alarm clock, to see that breakfast would be in exactly three minutes, and decided that his father would surely not mind too much if he was a couple minutes early, turning to leave. Just as he began to open the door, a familiar punching sound came from behind him, followed by a crackle and a spark of light.

"Five?" Luther asked, whipping around to see the boy at the other end of the room near his pile of clothes. "Where have you been?" he asked, emotion stirring.

"None of your business," Five muttered, grabbing a shirt, blazer and a pair of shorts from the piles. 

Luther charged over, upset by his nonchalant attitude. "Hey, as your leader, I demand you tell me where you've been. Look-your eyes-have you been up all night?"

Five looked at him, clearly too tired to make an effort to turn away. Beneath his eyes, faint, darkening bags were apparent, and he lacked the usual fire in his big, bright eyes. "What's it to you, One?"

Luther stood beside him, looking deeply into the brunette's face. "Five, I was worried all night, staying up late waiting."

"I'd say I'm flattered, Space, but I never asked you to care about what I do with myself," Five said snarkily back, and turned to leave with his clothes in hand.

"Well, I do." Luther replied, desperate.

"Not my problem," he added cockily in return, heading for the door.

"Five!" Luther shouted angrily, which actually made the boy stop. That anger diminished instantly, though, and melted into gentle concern and guilt. "I'm...I'm sorry if I upset you last night. I never meant to." This made Five tilt his head slightly, something he did when he was listening and subconsciously acknowledging somebody. "I just...worry for you."

Five warped away, again, without a single word.


End file.
